Station naming isn’t always as simple as it seems. There are many things to take into consideration including the surrounding community, nearby landmarks and even existing station names, so you don’t confuse customers.

Take Forest Hill Station for example. Located at the intersection of Eglinton Avenue West and Bathurst Street, it seems only logical to have gone with something like ‘Bathurst Station’, right? Unfortunately that’s a few years too late – over 50, to be exact – as Bathurst Station was claimed back in 1966 by the Line 2 station that sits just off the corner of Bathurst and Bloor.

So, what’s the next move? Let the community decide. In 2015, after several changes to the station name, an online consultation took place where the majority agreed that since it would be located in the Forest Hill community, ‘Forest Hill’ was the best name for the seventh underground station heading East on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT Line.

Fast forward a year later, to 2016, where construction officially began with the start of pilling works and utility relocation. Forest Hill Station is being constructed using a ‘top-down’ approach, where completion of the station’s concrete roof first will allow traffic to flow overtop while construction of the station and LRT platform continues below. The first of these concrete roof pours took place in early 2018, with more scheduled for this year.

The station will be home to 60 outdoor bicycle parking spaces and on-street connections to TTC buses. Retail space will also be located at street level.

To advance the station’s construction schedule and ensure the 2021 timeline is met, a temporary bridge was hoisted into place over the active construction site on the south side of the road. This allows vehicles to still cross while construction continues.

With new transit comes transformation of communities. Naming conventions are important to ensure commuters know where they are, but a station’s tie to the community is always that much more special.

And in this case, we think Forest Hill station has a nice ring to it.